Nice Girls Finish Last - Hardcover

It's not easy being a recently divorced 30-something woman in the Big Apple. But Robin Hudson, the sexy, flippant reporter for a nightly tabloid TV show who was last seen in What's a Girl Gotta Do?, has more reason to complain than most. Someone is undermining her social life by taking pot shots at her dates, who are hard enough to come by in the first place. And, as if that's not worrisome enough, her job's on the line, forcing her- a woman who grows poison ivy in her window boxes-to be unnaturally nice in the office. Her chirpy new persona is quickly put to the test when her gynecologist is found handcuffed in his office with a bullet hole in his head and a matchbook from a well-known S&M club by his side. Robin's sleazy boss wants her to investigate the story, with special emphasis on the S&M angle, even as she tries to avoid her bible-toting Aunt Maureen, who, in town for a church convention, hopes to place her niece on the straight and narrow permanently. Hayter, who has worked for CNN and WABC, has a splendid time spoofing egos on both sides of the camera. While readers will remember her giddy plot for about as long as a sound byte, her wry observations about the news world will resonate a bit longer.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

It's not exactly encouraging for All News Network reporter Robin Hudson (What's a Girl Gotta Do?, 1994) when the only man to have seen her naked in months, gynecologist Herman Kanengiser, is shot dead in his office, on the 27th floor of ANN's own building. But things rapidly get much worse. Soon after a matchbook found in Dr. Kanengiser's office takes Robin to the dungeon of Mistress Anya, head of the Marquis de Sade Society, several other ANN stalwarts manage to get themselves shot at shortly after spending quality time with Robin, and the police start to look at her as an S/M Calamity Jane. Worse still, her dreaded aunt Maureen, asteam with moral righteousness, is on her trail. Caught between the likes of Mistress Anya and Aunt Mo, Robin, who describes herself as ``Jerry Lewis's nutty professor . . . in the body of Rita Hayworth,'' doesn't so much investigate as stumble over the untidy solution to the mystery. But if the killer is negligible, the tableau of Robin and Aunt Mo fleeing in bondage gear from a man glued to a sofa is one of the most memorable climaxes you'll ever be glad you're not a part of. Sassy and bright, with real laughs at the end of the funny lines. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.